The Faculty of General Dental Practice UK (FGDP(UK)) held an anniversary dinner on Friday 13^th October to commemorate 25 years since it was established. Hosted at Drapers Hall in London, the dinner included three very special awards to reflect the everyday commitment of General Dental Practitioners to their practice and their patients.

Dr Mick Horton, Dean of FGDP(UK), opened the evening by reflecting on the role of the Faculty now and into the future:

“Our anniversary celebration is a great occasion for us to look forward to our new future.  We are now laying the foundations for forming a new chartered medical college after 25 successful years at RCS.  

“It’s a bold step: one that we believe will inspire our members and open a gateway to new partnerships that promote professionalism in dentistry. For the public and for patients, a clearly identifiable, confident and active standard-setting body will help us to cultivate greater confidence in dentistry overall. We want to focus on developing the appeal of a modern medical college for new generations entering practice.

“We are delighted to award our Anniversary prizes to three extremely worthy winners.  Their own personal achievements mirror the quality of standards and the diversity within the general dental profession, and we congratulate them on their awards.”

Award Winners

Foundation Dentist of the Year – Claire Culverwell

Claire works as a Dental Associate at Crook Log Dental Practice in South East London. Her career began as a Dental Nurse, before studying Dental Hygiene and Therapy at the University of Liverpool. She then decided to study Dental Surgery at King’s College London and was nominated by her Foundation trainer, Baber Khan.

Claire commented: “I went the long way around to my career in dentistry, but I am glad I did, because I’ve been in contact with patients from the very beginning, allowing me to develop a range of skills. This award means a lot to me, because getting to this point in my life has taken great effort and commitment. I wasn’t sure I would ever get there, but I know that all the effort has paid off. I’m surrounded by people who push me to be my best every day, and I’m loving every minute.”

Community Dentist of the Year – Jason Wong

This prize recognises GDPs and DCPs who have made a significant contribution to improving oral care in their local community, and was awarded through a process of open nomination by peers within the profession.

Jason commented: “I am honoured that a colleague had the thought and put in the effort to nominate me and delighted that the FGDP(UK) panel chose me for the award. I believe that we are all part of a great profession and that all of us who benefit from being part of it need to put something back in for the benefit of the whole profession.”

Dean’s Award – Dentaid

The Dean’s Award, sponsored by Simplyhealth, was presented to Dentaid for their support of the The Real Junk Tooth Project in the UK.

Andy Evans, CEO of Dentaid, said:

“Everyone at Dentaid is delighted and honoured to win the Dean’s Award. In recent years, we have become increasingly aware that many people in the UK struggle to access dental treatment for a wide variety of reasons and this has a negative impact on their general wellbeing.  Thanks to an incredible team of volunteers, many vulnerable people and those who could not register with an NHS dentist in Dewsbury were able to visit a dental surgery in the evening, without an appointment, and receive pain relieving dental care.  They only paid if they could afford to.  Over seven months 150 people received emergency treatment thanks to the Real Junk Tooth Project.  Dentaid’s next step was to purchase a mobile dental unit so we could bring a similar service to other parts of the country.  This unit also went back to Dewsbury in September when we treated almost 200 people in two weeks at clinics held outside schools, community centres and public buildings.  We are very grateful to all our volunteers and supporters for enabling this project to be such a success.”

As part of the 25-year celebration the FGDP(UK) will also host a conference on Holistic Dentistry on 3^rd November in Solihull.

Sirona Connect has always stood for comfortable, digital intraoral impressions in the dental practice and the quick and secure transfer of data to the dental laboratory. And with growing success, up to 2016, more than a million dental restorations were made using Sirona Connect. Dentsply Sirona has now enhanced the no. 1 in digital lab connections with the latest Sirona Connect software 4.5 update. Additional software services and new portal functions offer advantages for dentists and dental technicians.

Bensheim/Salzburg, October 10, 2017. The number of digital intraoral impressions completed in dental practices is steadily growing. Sirona Connect is increasingly used in practices and labs for transferring the impression data to the dental lab, allowing dentists to provide their patients a modern practice concept, take impressions quickly and comfortably thanks to intraoral scanning, and ensure faster overall treatment. Sirona Connect benefits the dental lab with direct connection to the practice, and quick and secure transfer of digital impression and order data. In addition, Sirona Connect saves the practice and lab valuable time by enabling the immediate exchange of information during the patient's visit.

Sirona Connect SW 4.5 with enhanced features

With the new Shade Detection tool for the CEREC Omnicam, the latest Sirona Connect software analyzes the scan and indicates the tooth color as a VITA* Classic or VITA* 3D Master shade. This function supports dentists in selecting the suitable shade for the restoration.

For even more flexibility, digital intraoral impressions can be made for Dentsply Sirona or third party implant systems and different scan bodies can be used.

Sirona Connect SW 4.5 also allows the practice to make an open scan export of the model data in STL format for direct transfer to the lab's CAD software.

There is another interesting enhancement for Sirona Connect labs. For the first time, they can create a customized lab profile on the Sirona Connect portal and show offers for appointments, materials, degrees of refinement, special services, and much more for the individual lab. This gives Sirona Connect dentists an optimum, customer-friendly overview of the range of services and saves them time when ordering from a lab.

The new Sirona Connect SW 4.5 is available to Sirona Connect users with CEREC Omnicam, CEREC Bluecam, and APOLLO DI as a free auto-update or as a download at www.dentsplysirona.com.

Due to various certification and registration periods, not all products are immediately available in all countries.

Whether you already run a dental payment plan at your practice or you’re considering launching a plan for the first time, award winning Patient Plan Direct invites you along to its Cost Saving Clinic at this year’s BDIA Showcase @ The NEC, Birmingham – 19^th to 21^st October.

This 15-20 minute investment of your time, could prove to save your practice thousands over the coming years.

Why visit the cost saving clinic?

If you already offer a payment plan…

If you work with a plan provider other than Patient Plan Direct that supports and administers your existing payment plans, we’re confident we can demonstrate how your practice could significantly cut the costs of running your plan and increase your practice profits, even if you opt to continue working with your existing provider.

Irrespective of the type of plans you offer patients (Full care, Maintenance, Membership, Hygiene only) or which provider you currently work with, we can share with you a range of options and methods to help you cut your plan administration costs!

If you’re thinking about launching a payment plan…

You may be looking to launch a payment plan simply to nurture patient loyalty or offer patients a convenient means of accessing their regular care, or you may be looking to launch plan as a means of transitioning to practice privately, stepping away from the NHS.

During your clinic appointment we’ll share with you the important considerations when selecting which plan provider to work with and tops tips on ensuring you maximise the profitability of your payment plan, whilst building a successful base of plan patients and offering the right range of plans to suit your patient demographics and oral health requirements.

Where and when is the cost saving clinic?

We’ll be hosting our cost saving clinic at stand E16 on all three days of the BDIA showcase exhibition.

You can pop along to our stand at any time, where one of our business development team will be more than happy to conduct our cost saving clinic exercise, which won’t take any longer than 15-20 mins.

If you would rather chat through the exercise in a little more privacy or away from the hustle and bustle of the show, one of our team will be more than happy to take you for a coffee (or something a little stronger) outside of the exhibition hall.

Whilst you’re welcome to simply ‘roll-up’ to our clinic at any time, to avoid disappointment we recommend you pre-book an appointment before the show. To do so, simply drop our team an email or give us a call to let us know which day and time works best for you and we’ll reply to confirm your appointment.

Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.  Tel: 08448486888

What do you need to bring along?

If you already offer a payment plan, please bring along your latest monthly plan schedule / report provided by your existing provider, or at the very least a note of the administration fees you’re currently charged and details of the plans you offer patients.

If you’re considering launching a dental plan for the first-time, you don’t need to bring along anything other than an appetite to understand how to launch a successful and profitable payment plan 

See you soon!

We look forward to seeing you soon. In the mean time you can discover more about Patient Plan Direct and how we’ve helped other practices on our website http://patientplandirect.com/case-studies/

Have you recently qualified and seeking to enhance your knowledge and skills in implant dentistry?

In partnership with Straumann, the ITI is proud to present the highly regarded ITI Foundation in Implant Dentistry course. Now in its tenth year, the FID is a comprehensive programme specifically designed to assist delegates towards meeting the requirements of both the GDC and the FGDP Training Standards in Implant Dentistry for a safe and predictable start in implant dentistry.

This modular course, divided into six modules of two days each, covers all the essential materials needed for assessment, diagnosis and treatment planning, plus the opportunity to gain one-to-one practice mentoring in the clinical environment. Taught by some of the most experienced implant dentists in the UK, including Prof Nikos Donos, Dr Shakeel Shahdad and Dr Nikos Mardas, it delivers a wealth of implant experience combined with the ITI philosophy to deliver an evidence-based curriculum in a continuously peer-reviewed format.

Delegates have full access to the renowned ITI Online Academy – a ground-breaking e-learning platform that meets the needs of implant dentistry professionals by complementing and backing up the modular course’s didactic teaching. FID has its own dedicated Campus on the ITI Online Academy with learning modules, lectures and treatment examples all part of the FID curriculum.

There are a number of options for further training after the delegates have completed the FID course. Delegates can choose to continue on the ITI Training Pathway: the UK & Ireland Education Programme, offering a wide range of Straightforward and Advanced level courses. Beyond the ITI many UK Universities also offer formal certificates, diplomas and MScs in Implant Dentistry. The FID is recognised by the University of Bristol as Approved Prior Learning (APL) for their MSc in Implant Dentistry and on completion of the FID, delegates have the option to apply for entry directly into the second year of the MSc. There is also the option of self-guided preparation for the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh Diploma in Implant Dentistry (Dip Imp Dent RCSEd).

Don’t miss out on your chance to take a significant first step on the ITI Pathway!

Early Bird Discount - Book before 31st October and save £900!

All delegates who book before 31st October 2017 will benefit from a £900 discount off the full course fee of £6,000 +VAT (£5,100 +VAT).

Book a free place for one of your practice staff on either a Dental Nurse or Treatment Coordinator course when you book your place on the ITI Foundation in Implant Dentistry course!

Calling all past FID delegates – If you refer a friend on to the FID 2018 course and they enrol and pay the deposit, you will receive a £50 John Lewis voucher!

Places are limited to a maximum of 24 delegates so to reserve your place or for further information please call the Straumann Education Department on +44 (0) 1293 651270 or visit iti.org/uk.

Start date: 20th February 2018 with modules running through to 19th September 2018

Venue: ITI Education Centre, Crawley

CPD: 78 hours of verifiable CPD

Materials, lunch and refreshments are provided

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